Jim Edmonds symbolizes everything that's wrong with baseball
By Curt Bishop
![Arizona Diamond Backs vs St. Louis Cardinals - May 13, 2006 Arizona Diamond Backs vs St. Louis Cardinals - May 13, 2006](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3000,h_1687,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/229/01j2vbdc40w09xww3nzm.jpg)
On Sunday, the Chicago Cubs had their way with their archrivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. Christopher Morel and Pete Crow-Armstrong each hit two home runs as they led the Cubs to an 8-3 win and helped them secure a series split in the Gateway City. The Cubs finished the first half 47-51, 3.5 games back of the New York Mets for the final Wild Card spot.
Morel's second homer was a big one, and it got out of Busch Stadium in a hurry. As he was rounding the bases, he let out a dab. But that celebration drew the ire of Cardinals legend Jim Edmonds. On the Bally Sports Midwest broadcast, Edmonds let out his true feelings.
"This kid's celebration is a joke. I don't mind saying it at all. I've never seen anything like it," Edmonds said. "I just don't get it. You're a .229 hitter and you're running around like you're Barry Bonds."
"[Christopher Morel's] celebration is a joke. I don't mind saying it at all. I've never seen anything like it... You're a .229 hitter... and you're running around like you're Barry Bonds." - Jim Edmonds
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 14, 2024
On the fan that caught it: "He's also taking up plenty of room out there..." pic.twitter.com/htFXqljWzB
Jim Edmonds wines about home run celebration, sums up what's wrong with baseball
Edmonds is clearly missing the point here. Morel's celebration was not a shot at the Cardinals or Andrew Kittredge, who gave up the home run. He was simply celebrating a big moment with his team. The only person that seemed to take any offense to the celebration was Edmonds. Even Cardinals fans didn't seem to care, and play-by-play announcer Chip Caray also didn't bat an eye.
Ultimately, the issue with baseball is not the fact that players are going over the top with their celebrations. In fact, that's what makes the game so exciting. Fans love to see boisterous celebrations. It's simply part of today's game and it's added an extra layer of fun.
The problem is that people like Edmonds are stuck in the past and act like these celebrations are disrespectful. They go on and on about how players have allegedly broken the 'unwritten rules' of the game. But if a rule is not written, then it shouldn't be considered a rule.
The simple solution, even if the Cardinals and their fans had batted an eye, would be to not give up so many home runs. Chicago hit six bombs at Busch Stadium yesterday, which is ultimately what put the Cardinals in a big hole that they couldn't climb out of. That isn't Morel's fault. All he was doing was having a little bit of fun. Baseball is meant to be fun.
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